Guest Post!

Writing Nonfiction
By Peggy Fielding

Writing nonfiction, i.e., writing truth, is as much an art as writing fiction and, of course, nonfiction is certainly easier to sell.

My bestselling books have always been nonfiction, particularly my book, THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITING & SELLING MAGAZINE ARTICLES, which has made a ton of money for my publisher.

The idea of writing another book which sells as well seems impossible but I have to grin and remind myself of what one of my former students once proclaimed for me, “Writing is hard!”
Of course she was right. I just have to remind myself that all writing is difficult but indeed, writing nonfiction is much easier all around, at least for me.

Quit dilly dallying, I tell myself. Writing nonfiction is way easier than any other kind of writing which I might indulge in. “Go for it, girl!”

I just have to begin with a few ideas for manuscript preparation in a 40,000 to 100,000 word book, ready for typing and mailing. See, I’m still a dinosaur -- write the book on a tablet, then on a computer. But I send it to an editor via the U.S. postal service.

First I must answer my question as to where ideas for nonfiction books can be found.

Here’s a short list comprised for my students, and yes, I use it myself:

1. Newspapers/TV/Magazines.
2. Bodies of knowledge which you and family or friends already have.
3. Your own unusual experiences.
4. Working with an expert (you write, he/she expounds.)
5. Research on the computer or in the library.
6. Sometimes strangers can come up with good ideas but be careful. Everybody thinks he/she can make a book from his/her life, if only someone else would just write it down and market it.

Now,call me if you think you have a better idea.

Love to all of my cyber friends,

Peggy Fielding
Author of PARADISE FOUND from Zebra/Kensington Books

And
SCOUNDREL’S BARGAIN from Diva, AWOC Publishing

Marching Through March

It is the first mild day of March.
Each minute sweeter than before . . .
There is a blessing in the air.
--William Wordsworth

March winds are double-edged, bearing the heaviness of winter along with the brightness of spring. March sometimes makes us want to huddle indoors and sometimes makes us want stand in the sunshine and dream of kites. It is a cusp month, balancing between winter and spring, making us wonder if one has gone or if the other has finally come.

Embrace the teetering days of March. Choose one or all of these activities to still the inner turmoil of life and listen closely to the writer in you.

*Create a database with names of publishing houses and editors.
*Set aside a calendar or daybook to record your writing information -- who's who, where something was sent, when something was requested, etc.
*Write a limerick to honor St. Patrick's Day.
*Write a letter to one of your favorite living authors. Tell the author why you love what he/she writes and quote a couple of your favorite lines or paragraphs from one of his/her books.
*Read a novel by an author you've never read before and write a review of it for an online site such as Amazon.
*Buy a book of poetry. It will do your heart good.

Challenge yourself. Go deep and write a few paragraphs about one of these issues:

The dream of being a writer is different from the reality of it. If I knew then what I know now, these are the things I would do differently.

If I could only write about one period in history, this is what I would choose and why.

If I could only write in one point of view (male or female) this is the one I would choose and why.

Now....go fly a kite!

Guest Post!

Writer's Block!
By Jackie King
“Writer’s Block: When your imaginary friends won’t come out and play with you.”

I laughed at this post on FaceBook; then I frowned. Something wasn’t quite right, but I was in a bad mood, and therefore perhaps, a poor judge.

Finishing my second Grace Cassidy mystery seemed impossible, and I was at that point where I’d decided the book was unsalvageable. The plot wouldn’t come together, the characters seemed wooden, and each keystroke was forced. I’m not ever going to be able to write another book, I thought. Despair swept through me.

Then some small voice from deep inside said (my belief is this whisper comes from God), “Buck up, pour some glue in the chair and sit down. You’ve been here before.”

These were true words and I knew it. I also knew the reason I was in such angst, panic and immobility was because I’d let other things get in the way of my writing every day. My imaginary friends had become sulky and now were refusing to come out to play. (Light bulb moment!)

I resolved then and there, that whether my writing went well or felt like slogging through almost-set concrete, I’d show up to play with these friends, come hell or high water. (Okie speak.)

This resolution meant I had to learn to say two words, “Wait” and “No.” Both are hard for me, since I’m a natural born people-pleaser, but I’m learning. And guess what? The next book in my Bed & Breakfast Inn-sitter series is coming together! Oh the miracle of creative thought.

So I revised the lead quote:
“Writer’s Block: When you don’t show up to play with your imaginary friends and they get even by refusing to speak.” (Or is that Writer’ Lazy Butt?)

Hugs,
Jackie King
Author of The Inconvenient Corpse


http://amzn.to/gMv7CH Link to Amazon Kindle

http://bit.ly/fovbLR Link to B&N Nook


Jackie King is a pal of mine and an excellent author and hard worker. She knows what it takes to grind out page after page until a novel is born. If you aren't already a fan of hers, please do yourself a favor and buy one of her books. You will be delighted!

Time for February

China tea, the scent of hyacinths, wood fires, and bowls of violets --
that is my mental picture of an agreeable February afternoon.
-- Constance Spry

How well do you manage your time? We all have the same amount of it every day, but we certainly don't all use it the same way. This month think about time -- saving it, savoring it, and jealously guarding it.

*Give yourself the gift of time -- allot time every day to write.
*Begin a new tradition -- stop saying negative things to yourself. Instead of feeling defeated because you didn't meet a writing deadline you set for yourself, congratulate yourself for trying to reach the goal and getting something written. Every day you manage to add to your latest work-in-progress is a banner day.
*Celebrate Valentine's Day by making your own valentines and sending them to friends and family, baking heart-shaped sugar cookies, and watching your favorite romantic movie.
*Re-read your favorite love story this month. Can you recall the thrill you experienced the first time you read it? Indulge yourself!
*Think back to the first time you decided to be a writer. Has it lived up to your expectations? Do you still enjoy being a writer?
*Read a book set back in time and lose yourself in history.
*Zoom forward and read a book or watch a movie set in the future.

This month's "block busters" or questions that can spark your creativity:

How has writing shaped my life?

What book made me want to be a writer? What was it about that book that stirred something in me?

Words have power and this is why I know this to be true . . .


February is a shorter month, but it is Leap Year, so we all get one extra day. How will you spend it?

January's Creative Push

January
And now let us welcome the New Year
Full of things that have never been -- Rainer Maria Rilke

Ready to begin the new year with enthusiasm, writers? Could you use a little creative push? Here are some activities for you to try that will stir your creativity and get you in the mood to produce paragraph after paragraph of publish worthy prose.
*Clean off your desk or writing space.
*List four things you hope to accomplish this year.
*Stock up on comfort food you enjoy while writing.
*Splurge on a wonderful ink pen and expensive stationery.
*Buy a blank book to use as a 2012 Yearbook.
*Resolve to attract joy to your life.
*Hang some new calendars in strategic places in your home.
*Find and frame your favorite photo of yourself as a child. Find and print or copy your favorite personal motto or prayer and place it near the photo. Look at these every day to get in touch with the fountain of your creativity and childhood enthusiasm and energy.
*Look at your personal motto or prayer and ask yourself why you selected it. Why does it speak to your heart and spirit?

On days that you find it difficult to begin writing, do one of these exercises to prime your writing pump!

1. What I found out about myself when I cleaned off my desk.
2. Why I like the photo of myself that I framed.
3. Use your new ink pen and a sheet of your new stationery and write a letter to yourself. Begin with this:
Dear Friend;
I want this year to be more joyful and more productive. To attract these things to my life I intend to . . .

Dreams of Roy Rogers

Before I wrote my first historical romance I told everyone who would listen that I didn't like to study history (even though I had a minor in it from college) and I wasn't interested in the least in westerns and such. Then my agent asked me to try my hand at an historical. Her timing was good because I had just fallen madly in love with LaVyrle Spencer's books and she wrote both contemporary and historical romances -- but her historicals are fabulous. "Hummingbird," "The Gamble," and "Vows" were wonderful and had me wondering if I might have one of these types of stories inside me.
Taking up the challenge, I launched into my first attempt which I called "Wildcat" and the publisher ended up changing the title to "Blazing Embers," a title I never liked. Reminded me too much of "Blazing Saddles." Nevertheless, I was hooked.
But what was truly astonishing was that I didn't have to conduct as much research as I had thought because -- from somewhere -- facts about the west and living off the land came to me. How did I know these things?
I traced this unearthed knowledge to two sources: my parents' stories of living the farm life in Missouri and my childhood Saturday morning TV fixation with Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Hopalong Cassidy.
My dad loved westerns and we always watched what Daddy wanted to watch on TV. So we spent our evenings watching Gunsmoke; Paladin; The Big Valley; Bonanza, Have Gun, Will Travel; The High Chaparral; Wanted: Dead or Alive; The Rifleman; Maverick; Bat Masterson; Wagon Train; Cheyenne; Death Valley Days; Laramie; The Lone Ranger; Rawhide; and Sugarfoot. I grew up in a time when westerns were the most popular genre on TV. Is it any wonder my mind sopped it all up and stored it for future use?
I'm reminded of Margaret Mitchell telling of sitting on the porch and listening to her old relatives relate their personal tales of the Civil War. Little did she know at that time that she would use all of their stories in a novel called "Gone with the Wind."
So it was with my parents. I listened to their tales of picking cotton, training mules, fixing plows, digging outhouses and wells, making soap, butchering pigs and chickens, putting up meat and canned vegetables, and sleeping six or seven kids to a bed. It all came back to me when I began writing historical romances.
If you haven't read LaVyrle Spencer's books, then you have a treat ahead of you. Hers are some of the few books that I have shed tears as I read sentimental and touching passages. She retired from writing in 1997 or thereabout and I don't know why. Her books are wonderful and hold up well.
Please feel free to read my historicals, too. My personal favorites are "Primrose"
and "Cheyenne's Shadow" originally published by Avon Books and now available on Amazon.

Getting Down to It

The most difficult thing about writing is actually doing it -- sitting down every day to pound out some sentences. Once you get on a roll, it's not half bad, but getting moving can be painful. Staring at the screen, re-reading what you wrote yesterday, checking out your fingernails, counting the cracks in the ceiling....so much to do!

When you finally get going and into that world you have created from whole cloth, it can be drug-like. Time will expire and you will be oblivious to the physical world. You will feel that you know these people you have created. Non-writers don't understand how you can write all day and not crave the company of other people. They don't understand that you have been with people all day long, moving them about, letting them yap on and on, feeling their fears, joys, nervousness, and passion. It can be exhausting and you can feel at the end of a writing session that you just want to be alone! Alone with your own thoughts!

Ah, but getting to that place is the rub, as Shakespeare would say. Sitting yourself down, concentrating on what you are about to do, channeling that other world and those other people, snuggling into their skin, getting lost in there . . . in those pages of type you are producing. Some days it simply doesn't happen. Some days you slip right in without a backward glance.

But most days you have to force it. You have to pry open that world with a dull spoon and writhe and wriggle into it, a stranger in a strange land -- at least for a few paragraphs or a few pages -- searching for the familiar, for that spark that will set fire to the kindling of your imagination.